It is common practice to suspend a waterproof shower curtain across a shower stall or bathtub opening or around a shower area to prevent shower water from splashing or otherwise spraying out onto the surrounding floor. Failure to confine water to the shower or tub stall necessitates mopping or otherwise drying wetted areas and can result in costly damage to floors, walls or other structures. Since both shower stalls and bathtub enclosures used as shower stalls present similar problems in this regard, as used herein and in the claims, the terms "shower stall" or "stall" mean any area adaptable for showering regardless of whether the same area may be used for other purposes such as bathing.
In a typical shower or tub stall defined by a rear wall, two end walls and an opening, a shower curtain is suspended from a straight member such as a rod which spans the shower stall opening. The curtain is usually hung from the rod by a plurality of hooks which slide along the rod to that the curtain may be drawn open or closed. A problem with this arrangement is that even when the curtain is drawn fully closed across the stall opening, the edge of the shower curtain does not butt closely against the end walls of the shower stall which extend at right angles to the opening. Gaps through which water can pass remain between the ends of the curtain and these wall surfaces of the shower stall.
To seal these gaps, persons often resort to wetting the surface of the shower stall in the area adjacent the gap and attempting to secure the shower curtain to the surface of the stall with water acting as a temporary adhesive agent. These efforts are not consistently successful. Depending on the nature of the shower stall wall surfaces and the shower curtain material, the curtain may not adhere at all, or may come loose quickly, requiring frequent attention. Children or others may forget to practice the procedure or intentionally decide to forego the inconvenience of it.
One way of addressing the problem of leakage from shower stalls is to outfit the shower stall opening with sliding or hinged shower doors. Unfortunately, such doors are relatively expensive. Also, installation generally requires more than one person and involves permanent or semi-permanent attachment of component parts to supporting structure. Accordingly, shower doors are often not practical for apartment dwellers, since they are relatively expensive, as compared to curtains and cannot be readily removed without structural damage.
Another attempt to deal with the leakage problem noted has been to provide an L-shaped bracket suspended by hooks from the end of a shower curtain rod so that one leg of the bracket runs below the rod while the other leg protrudes rearwardly into the interior of the stall. The end of the shower curtain is suspended from the protruding leg so that a flap or panel of the shower curtain protrudes into the shower stall. The curtain thus constantly hangs in a major plane with the leg portion extending from the plane into the stall. When the shower curtain is drawn closed, this panel hangs more or less parallel to the end wall surface of the shower stall to form an enclosure which is more water tight than one obtained by simply butting the edge of the shower curtain against the surface of the stall. This system is unsightly, however, since the panel protrudes into the stall even when the shower curtain is opened.
The splashing or overspray problem noted above is also applicable to shower areas of other configurations, such as where a free-standing tube or shower floor is disposed adjacent a single wall or in a corner defined by two walls, for example. In such configurations, the curtain surrounds the area on the open sides, but has ends terminated at the single wall or corner walls, for example.
Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to provide a shower curtain support from which a shower curtain may be suspended to provide good protection against leakage of water from the shower stall or area.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a shower curtain support which is relatively affordable, attractive and easy to install.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a shower curtain support from which a shower curtain may be suspended so that when the shower curtain is drawn closed, overspray and splashing outside the shower area is prevented.